Which Conference Is Best Represented in This Year's NCAA Tournament?

SEC

If it wasn't for Kentucky, the SEC would have a rough showing in our conference rankings. The only two teams that are above-average tourney squads outside of Kentucky are Arkansas and Georgia, ending up with an 11.83 and 10.17 nERD, respectively. Meanwhile, Mississippi and LSU finished with nearly identical nERDs, 9.40 and 9.38, respectively.

The average nERD for those four teams is just 10.20 -- Kentucky brings that average up to 12.78, tied for the lowest conference average in these rankings. To make SEC fans feel better, though, they only ended up with the second-worst cumulative nERD of 63.88, besting the Pac-12's total of 55.26.

But Kentucky is best in the class this year despite their competition. Their 23.10 nERD is best in the tourney, and so is their defense. Their offense isn't too shabby, either, as it is in the 98th percentile and the ninth best in the tournament. They clearly deserve the best seed in the bracket, and have a 41.95% chance to win it all according to our metrics.